索尼 (SONY) 2004 Q4 法說會逐字稿

At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Sony Corporation fourth quarter fiscal year 2004 conference call. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS] The conference will now begin.

此時我想歡迎大家參加索尼公司 2004 財年第四季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）會議現在開始。

Thank you very much for that introduction. Thank you all for joining us today April 27, 2005 for the discussion of Sony's results of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005. I am Jonathan Bates with Sony Investor Relations in Tokyo. We are joined this evening in Tokyo by Takao Yuhara, Senior Vice President, Corporate Executive Officer in charge of Finance and Investor Relations. And by Mr. Rob Wiesenthal, CFO of Sony Corporation of America. In addition, I am sorry to have to report that Katsumi Ihara, Executive Deputy President, Corporate Executive Officer, Group CSO and CFO will not be able to join us for today's call. First of all, I would like to have Mr. Yuhara and Mr. Wiesenthal say a few words of welcome to our guests.

非常感謝您的介紹。感謝大家今天 2005 年 4 月 27 日與我們一起討論索尼截至 2005 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度的業績。我是東京索尼投資者關係部的 Jonathan Bates。今晚在東京，負責財務和投資者關係的高級副總裁兼公司執行官 Takao Yuhara 加入了我們的行列。以及索尼美國公司首席財務官 Rob Wiesenthal 先生。此外，我很遺憾地報告，執行副總裁、公司執行官、集團 CSO 和 CFO 伊原勝美將無法參加我們今天的電話會議。首先，我想請湯原先生和維森塔爾先生對我們的客人說幾句歡迎的話。

This is Yuhara. Thank you very much for you to join this conference call. I'm also joined to this -- the conference. Thank you.

這是由原。非常感謝您參加本次電話會議。我也參加了這次會議。謝謝你。

Good morning it's Rob Wiesenthal calling from Tokyo and I look forward to taking your questions about the entertainment business.

早上好，我是 Rob Wiesenthal 從東京打來的，我期待著回答你關於娛樂業的問題。

Thank you very much for joining us today. In just a few moments I'm going to give you a brief summary of today's announcements. Then Mr. Yuhara and Mr. Wiesenthal will be available to answer your questions.

非常感謝您今天加入我們。稍後我將向您簡要介紹今天的公告。然後湯原先生和維森塔爾先生將有空回答您的問題。

Please be aware that statements made during the following remarks and Q&A session with respect to Sony's current plans, estimates, strategies, and release and other statements, that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Sony. These statements are based on management's assumptions and at least in light of the information currently available to us, and therefore we should not place undue reliance on them. Sony cautions you that a number of important factors could cause actual result to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. For additional information as to risks and uncertainties, as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to today's press release. Which can be accessed by choosing investor relations at the bottom of the page at WWW.Sony.com.

請注意，在以下評論和問答環節中關於索尼當前計劃、估計、戰略和發布的聲明以及其他非歷史事實的聲明是關於索尼未來業績的前瞻性聲明。這些陳述是基於管理層的假設，至少是根據我們目前可獲得的信息做出的，因此我們不應過分依賴它們。索尼提醒您，許多重要因素可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果大不相同。有關風險和不確定性的更多信息，以及可能導致實際結果不同的其他因素，請參閱今天的新聞稿。可以通過選擇 WWW.Sony.com 頁面底部的投資者關係來訪問。

With that, I'm going to turn to our announcements. Announcement of Sony's results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005. Consolidated sales decreased 4% or 336.8 billion Yen, year on year. This was primarily due to the transfer of our overseas recorded music business to the equity affiliate Sony BMG and the appreciation of the Yen. Consolidated operating income increased 15% year on year on a Yen basis and 26% year on year on a local currency basis. The pictures segment recorded record-breaking operating income due to the success of Spider-Man 2 and strong home entertainment sales. Profitability in the music segment improved and the financial services segment performed well. The game segment experienced a decrease in sales and operating income. And the electronics segment recorded a larger operating loss than the previous year.

有了這個，我將轉向我們的公告。索尼公佈截至 2005 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度業績。綜合銷售額同比下降 4% 或 3368 億日元。這主要是由於我們的海外錄製音樂業務轉讓給股權關聯公司索尼 BMG 和日元升值。綜合營業收入按日元計算同比增長 15%，按當地貨幣計算同比增長 26%。由於蜘蛛俠 2 的成功和強勁的家庭娛樂銷售，圖片部門的營業收入創下歷史新高。音樂板塊的盈利能力有所改善，金融服務板塊表現良好。遊戲分部的銷售額和營業收入有所下降。電子業務錄得比上一年更大的經營虧損。

Although we decreased fixed costs in the electronics segment via restructuring, intense pricing competition negatively affected our performance. Restructuring expenses, which are included as operating expenses in the calculation of operating income, were 90 billion Yen, a decrease of 78.1 billion Yen versus the previous fiscal year.

儘管我們通過重組降低了電子部門的固定成本，但激烈的價格競爭對我們的業績產生了負面影響。在計算營業收入時作為營業費用計入的重組費用為 900 億日元，比上一財年減少 781 億日元。

Net income increased 85% year on year. There were two primary reasons for this large increase. Firstly, the effective tax rates declined to 10.2% from the 36.6% recorded in the previous year. A reversal of valuation allowances on deferred tax assets at Sony's U.S. subsidiaries resulting from an actual and anticipated improvement in operating performance, led to a reduction in tax expense. Secondly, equity in net income of affiliates improved 27.3 billion Yen versus the previous year. Sony recorded 17.4 billion Yen in equity income from Sony Ericsson, an increase of 11 billion Yen year on year. Sony Ericsson sold a record number of hand sets, more than 43 million, proving the strength of its product lineup. Sony also recorded a 12.6 billion Yen in income from -- in equity income from InterTrust Technologies Corporation, which recorded a gain from the settlement of a patent-related lawsuit. As a result, diluted earnings per share were 158.07 Yen, an increase of 81.7%.

淨收入同比增長85%。這種大幅增長有兩個主要原因。首先，有效稅率從上年的36.6%下降至10.2%。由於實際和預期的經營業績改善，索尼美國子公司的遞延稅資產估值準備金的逆轉導致稅收費用減少。其次，關聯公司的淨收入權益比上一年增加了 273 億日元。索尼從索尼愛立信獲得的股權收益為174億日元，同比增加110億日元。索尼愛立信手機銷量創歷史新高，超過 4300 萬部，證明了其產品陣容的實力。索尼還從 InterTrust Technologies Corporation 的股權收入中獲得了 126 億日元的收入，該公司記錄了一項專利相關訴訟的和解收益。結果，每股攤薄收益為 158.07 日元，增長 81.7%。

Let me now quickly review the actual results for each segment for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. Electronics sales were flat versus the previous fiscal year, but operating loss increased 27.5 billion Yen. Although restructuring expenses for the segment decreased 66 billion Yen and we generated 82.7 billion Yen in savings from reduced fixed costs, a 15 billion Yen negative impact from the appreciation of the Yen, a 55.8 billion Yen increase in depreciation expenses and a 104.4 billion Yen deterioration in variable costs resulted in the increase in operating loss.

現在讓我快速回顧一下截至 2005 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度每個部門的實際結果。電子產品銷售額與上一財政年度持平，但營業虧損增加了 275 億日元。儘管該部門的重組費用減少了 660 億日元，我們從減少的固定成本中節省了 827 億日元，日元升值帶來了 150 億日元的負面影響，折舊費用增加了 558 億日元，惡化了 1044 億日元可變成本導致經營虧損增加。

Audio, video, TV, and information and communications category sales in aggregate were 3 trillion 367.1 billion yen, a decrease of 1%, while operating income of these categories together was 20.5 billion yen, an 81% decrease versus the previous fiscal year. Sales of CRT TVs, due to the shift in the market to flat panel TVs and portable audio sales due to a shift in the market, decreased. On the other hand, sales of flat panel TVs, which saw an increase in unit sales in every region, sales of digital still cameras, which saw an increase in sales outside of Japan and LCD projection TVs, which saw an increase in unit sales primarily in the U.S., increased. Operating income of the AVIT categories decreased as a result of the decreased CRT TV and portable audio sales and a decline in the selling price of camcorders. VAIO profitability increased due to improvements in operations and concentration on high-value added models.

音頻、視頻、電視和信息和通信類別銷售額合計為 3 萬億 3671 億日元，下降 1%，而這些類別的營業收入合計為 205 億日元，比上一財年下降 81%。由於市場向平板電視的轉移，CRT 電視的銷量和市場轉移導致的便攜式音頻設備銷量下降。另一方面，各地區銷量均有所增長的平板電視、日本以外銷量增長的數碼相機、以及銷量主要增長的液晶投影電視等在美國，增加了。由於 CRT 電視和便攜式音響銷量下降以及攝像機售價下降，AVIT 類別的營業收入下降。 VAIO 盈利能力的提高歸功於運營的改善和對高附加值模型的關注。

The products we introduced to the rapidly expanding flat panel TV and DVD recorder markets at the end of the last calendar year have sold well, and the Happy VEGA series of LCD TVs we put on sale in Japan in February is selling well and profitability in the LCD business is improving. In the portable audio space, CD and MD walkman sales have decreased. In response, we have expanded our lineup of hard disk and flash-based devices, introducing a flash-based product in Japan in April that has recorded very positive sales, being the top selling flash memory player for its first week of release.

我們在去年年底推出的快速擴張的平板電視和DVD刻錄機市場的產品銷售情況良好，我們2月份在日本發售的Happy VEGA系列液晶電視在日本市場銷售良好，並實現了盈利。 LCD業務正在好轉。在便攜式音頻領域，CD 和 MD 隨身聽的銷量有所下降。作為回應，我們擴大了硬盤和基於閃存的設備陣容，4 月份在日本推出了一款基於閃存的產品，該產品取得了非常積極的銷售記錄，在發布的第一周就成為最暢銷的閃存播放器。

Sales of the semiconductor and component categories in aggregate were 1 trillion 334.3 billion yen, an increase of 5% year on year. This increase was primarily due to an increase in intersegment sales of semiconductors to the game business.

半導體及元器件品類銷售額合計1萬億3343億日元，同比增長5%。這一增長主要是由於對遊戲業務的半導體部門間銷售額增加。

Operating performance deteriorated 59.5 billion yen, resulting in the recording of an operating loss of 6.8 billion yen due to an increase in research and development expenses for the next generation processor, and increasingly intense pricing pressure in the DVD optical pickup and DVD PC drive business. Sales in the game segment decreased 7%. Approximately half of the segment's sales were generated by hardware and accessories combined. These two items accounted for 60% of sales in the previous year. Sales of hardware decreased year on year due to the decrease in PS2 unit sales and strategic price reductions. Sales of software increased due to an increase in PS2 software unit sales and absolute revenue. Sales of PS2 units continued to be strong, with the number of production shipments for PS2 software reaching a record for the year.

經營業績惡化595億日元，由於下一代處理器的研發費用增加，以及DVD光拾取器和DVD PC驅動器業務的價格壓力越來越大，導致營業虧損68億日元。遊戲部門的銷售額下降了 7%。該部門大約一半的銷售額來自硬件和配件。這兩項占上年銷售額的60%。由於 PS2 銷量下降和戰略性降價，硬件銷售額同比下降。由於 PS2 軟件單位銷售額和絕對收入的增加，軟件銷售額有所增加。 PS2 裝置的銷售繼續強勁，PS2 軟件的生產出貨量創下了今年的記錄。

The in-house ratio for the year was basically unchanged at 15% for the year compared to 14% for last year. Grand Tourismo 4, which went on sale in the second of the year shipped more than 6 million units. Play Station Portable has gotten off to a great start, going on sale in Japan in December and in the U.S. in March. Hardware production shipments at the end of March were 2.97 million units and software production shipments were 5.70 million units. 1.44 million units of the hardware have been produced for the Japanese market with 1.53 million units produced for the North American market. More than 30 titles were on sale at the end of March in Japan and more than 20 were on sale in the U.S. We plan to bring the Play Station Portable to Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in May and Europe in September.

年內內部比率基本維持在15%，而去年為14%。第二年上市的Grand Tourismo 4出貨量超過600萬台。 Play Station Portable 開局不錯，分別於 12 月和 3 月在日本和美國發售。 3月底硬件生產出貨量為297萬台，軟件生產出貨量為570萬台。為日本市場生產了 144 萬件硬件，為北美市場生產了 153 萬件硬件。 3 月底有 30 多款遊戲在日本發售，20 多款在美國發售。我們計劃在 5 月和 9 月將 Play Station Portable 帶到韓國、台灣和香港。

Operating income in the game segment decreased 36% because, although software continued to perform well, the decrease in unit sales of PS2 hardware, the effect of the strategic price reductions and start-up costs associated with the Play Station Portable put downward pressure on earnings. Our production shipment forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, for PS2 is 12 million units, for Play Station Portable, 12 million units and for all software, 250 million units.

遊戲部門的營業收入下降了 36%，因為雖然軟件繼續表現良好，但 PS2 硬件的單位銷售額下降、戰略降價的影響以及與 Play Station Portable 相關的啟動成本對收益造成下行壓力.我們對截至 2006 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度的生產出貨量預測，PS2 為 1200 萬台，Play Station Portable 為 1200 萬台，所有軟件為 2.5 億台。

The music segment's sales decreased due to the transfer of the U.S. based recorded music business to the Sony BMG joint venture on August 1, 2004. Operating income for the segment improved due to an increase in sales and an improvement in the cost of sales ratio at Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Sony BMG recorded $3.258 billion in sales, $290 million in restructuring expenses, $53 million in loss before income taxes and $66 million in net loss for the period since its establishment last August to the end of March 2005.

由於 2004 年 8 月 1 日將美國的錄製音樂業務轉移到索尼 BMG 合資企業，音樂部門的銷售額有所下降。由於銷售額增加和銷售成本比率的改善，該部門的營業收入有所改善日本索尼音樂娛樂公司。索尼 BMG 自去年 8 月成立至 2005 年 3 月底期間的銷售額為 32.58 億美元，重組費用為 2.9 億美元，所得稅前虧損為 5300 萬美元，淨虧損為 6600 萬美元。

Sales in the pictures segment decreased 3% on a yen basis, but increased 1% on a dollar basis. This is the third period in a row in which Sony pictures has recorded record sales on a dollar basis. Not only was Spider-Man 2 a hit, but worldwide home entertainment and international syndication sales of prior year releases, such as 50 First Dates and Big Fish as well as theatrical releases such as Hitch contributed to revenue. SPE's market share for the 2004 calendar year was number 1 at 14%. Operating income of the pictures segment set a record for the fiscal year, increasing 80% over the previous year. Although the television business had a decrease in profit due to difficult comparisons with the previous year, earnings from the current year's film slate and home entertainment and syndication performance of prior year films led to the increase in operating income.

圖片部門的銷售額以日元計算下降了 3%，但以美元計算增長了 1%。這是索尼影業連續第三次創下美元銷售額記錄。不僅《蜘蛛俠 2》大受歡迎，全球家庭娛樂和前一年發行的國際聯合銷售，如 50 First Dates 和 Big Fish 以及 Hitch 等影院發行也為收入做出了貢獻。 SPE 在 2004 日曆年的市場份額為 14%，位居第一。圖片板塊營業收入創本財年新高，同比增長80%。儘管電視業務由於難以與上一年進行比較而導致利潤下降，但本年度的電影票房收入和家庭娛樂以及上一年電影的辛迪加表現導致營業收入增加。

Finally, the financial services segment experienced a 6% decrease in revenue due to a decline in revenue at Sony Life, which accounted for approximately 85% of the segment's revenues. Sony Life's revenue decreased due to a change in the method for recognizing insurance premium revenue. If we were to exclude this effect, revenue was basically flat. Operating income of the segment increased 300 million yen to 55.5 billion yen. Due to a decrease in valuation gains on investments, operating income at Sony Life decreased 3% to 61 billion yen.

最後，由於佔該部門收入約 85% 的索尼人壽收入下降，金融服務部門的收入下降了 6%。由於保費收入確認方法發生變化，索尼人壽的收入有所下降。如果我們排除這種影響，收入基本持平。該部門的營業收入增加了 3 億日元，達到 555 億日元。由於投資估值收益減少，索尼人壽的營業收入下降 3% 至 610 億日元。

With that I would like to move to our forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006. We expect to record an increase in sales and operating income. The transfer of the substitutional portion i.e., the benefit obligation related to past employee service of Sony's employee pension fund, to the Japanese government is expected to enable us to record a gain of approximately 60 billion yen at the operating level and 35 billion yen at the net income level. Excluding this factor, consolidated operating income is expected to decrease year on year due to what we anticipate will be a severe operating environment.

說到這裡，我想談談我們對截至 2006 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度的預測。我們預計銷售額和營業收入將有所增長。將替代部分（即與索尼員工養老基金過去員工服務相關的福利義務）轉移給日本政府，預計將使我們能夠在運營層面獲得約 600 億日元的收益，在運營層面獲得 350 億日元的收益。淨收入水平。排除這個因素，由於我們預計將是一個嚴峻的經營環境，綜合營業收入預計將同比下降。

Excluding the effect of the pension funds transfer gain, results on a segment wide basis are expected to be as follows. In the electronics segment, sales are expected to increase due to an increase in flat panel TV and LCD projection TV sales. Although this increase in sales and the benefits of reduced -- reduced fixed costs from our restructuring efforts will have a positive effect impact on profitability, continued pricing pressure and appreciation of the yen will likely offset this impact. We do, however, expect a reduction of restructuring charges year on year to lead to an improvement in operating profits.

排除養老基金轉移收益的影響，預計整個部門的結果如下。在電子產品領域，由於平板電視和液晶投影電視銷量的增長，銷售額有望增長。儘管銷售額的增加和我們重組工作帶來的減少固定成本的好處將對盈利能力產生積極影響，但持續的定價壓力和日元升值可能會抵消這種影響。然而，我們確實預計重組費用的逐年減少將導致營業利潤的改善。

Sales are expected to increase in the game segment. But operating income is expected to remain unchanged year on year. Sales are expected to grow as a result of the contribution of Play Station Portable. The contribution to profitability of PS2 and Play Station Portable will likely be offset, however, by increased research and development expenses for the next generation computer entertainment system. The pictures segment is expected to have an increase in sales due to an increase in theatrical and home entertainment sales, primarily resulting from an increase in films distributed, due to the acquisition of MGM. Operating income is expected to decrease, however, due to a difficult comparison with the previous year in which Spider-Man 2 was such a large contributor. Financial services and the other segments combined are expected to have a slight decrease in operating income. That concludes my opening remarks. With that I would like to turn you over to our operator.

預計遊戲部門的銷售額將增加。但營業收入預計同比保持不變。由於 Play Station Portable 的貢獻，預計銷售額將會增長。然而，PS2 和 Play Station Portable 對盈利能力的貢獻可能會被下一代計算機娛樂系統研發費用的增加所抵消。由於收購米高梅，主要是由於發行的電影增加，因此影院和家庭娛樂銷售額增加，預計圖片部門的銷售額將增加。然而，由於與蜘蛛俠 2 貢獻如此大的前一年相比很難比較，預計營業收入將下降。預計金融服務和其他部門合併後的營業收入將略有下降。我的開場白到此結束。有了這個，我想把你交給我們的接線員。

[OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS]

[操作說明]

While we are waiting for the Q&A roster to be compiled, let's take a couple of e-mail questions. The first e-mail question is can you comment on total sell through of the PSP in North America to date and how these numbers compare to your expectations.

在我們等待編制問答名冊的同時，我們來回答幾個電子郵件問題。第一個電子郵件問題是，您能否對迄今為止北美 PSP 的總銷量發表評論，以及這些數字與您的預期相比如何。

So I'd like to answer to this question of our Play Station Portables, as you know, we have launched the Play Station Portable in Japan in December last year, and also last month in the United States, and I believe they're both launching very well, both in hard and software. And also the sell through is moving very smoothly. And the other important thing is that we have launched over 30 titles of software in Japan and also more than 20 titles in North America – which is also accelerating the sell through. I cannot tell you exactly the quantity of sell through but the cumulative shipment quantity in Japan is 1.4 million units and North America is 1.5 million units.

所以我想回答我們 Play Station Portables 的這個問題，如你所知，我們去年 12 月在日本推出了 Play Station Portable，上個月也在美國推出，我相信它們都是啟動非常好，無論是在硬件還是軟件方面。而且銷售也非常順利。另一件重要的事情是，我們已經在日本推出了 30 多款軟件，在北美也推出了 20 多款軟件——這也在加速銷售。我不能告訴你具體的銷售量，但日本的累計出貨量是140萬台，北美是150萬台。

Thank you very much, Mr. Yuhara. Our next e-mail question is an e-mail question for Rob. What's your guidance for margin declines in pictures and your restructuring costs for MGM? Press suggests Sony will rationalize 1,200 of MGM's 1,500 staff.

非常感謝，湯原先生。我們的下一個電子郵件問題是給 Rob 的電子郵件問題。您對圖片利潤率下降的指導以及米高梅的重組成本是多少？媒體建議索尼將合理化米高梅 1,500 名員工中的 1,200 名。

The rationalization of MGM obviously will include restructuring costs at MGM. Those however will not impact the Sony pictures segment. Sony manages its investment in MGM as a minority stake that is recognized on the equity income line. So that does not impact the pictures margin. Obviously with respect to the decline in pictures margin it had to do with difficult comparisons on the motion picture side, not having Spider-Man 2 as we did last year, a tremendously successful film in the absence of Seinfeld third cycle sales and other TV revenues that we had in the previous year. So there is no impact by MGM on our performance at Sony pictures with respect to margin and in fact, I'll add that we would expect some actual enhancement of profitability at pictures due to MGM in terms of the pickup of fees that we will be receiving for distributing MGM product as we move forward.

米高梅的合理化顯然將包括米高梅的重組成本。然而，這些不會影響索尼電影部門。索尼將其在米高梅的投資作為少數股權進行管理，並在股權收益線上確認。所以這不會影響圖片邊距。顯然，關於圖片利潤率的下降，這與電影方面的困難比較有關，沒有像我們去年那樣擁有蜘蛛俠 2，這是一部在沒有 Seinfeld 第三週期銷售和其他電視收入的情況下取得巨大成功的電影我們在前一年有過。因此，米高梅對我們在索尼影業的利潤率方面的表現沒有影響，事實上，我要補充一點，我們預計由於米高梅，我們將在收取費用方面實際提高圖片的盈利能力在我們前進的過程中收到分發 MGM 產品的費用。

Thank you very much, Rob. With that I would like to go over to our first live question.

非常感謝你，羅伯。說到這裡，我想回到我們的第一個現場問題。

Your first question comes from the line of Mr. Conor O'Mara from Arete Research.

你的第一個問題來自 Arete Research 的 Conor O'Mara 先生。

Hello, there. Two questions on guidance, if I may. The first relates to your 5 billion forecast for equity in net income. I was wondering, could you help me break that down in terms of the different associate lines because just a -- just looking through some clean numbers it looks quite low to me. I mean, SEMC did 18 billion last year. Sony BMG if you strip out the charge as is already doing a 7% margin and you've already taken 219 million of costs there and Samsung LCD is also ramping and everybody's quite optimistic about the LCD TV market in the second half of the year so I'm really wondering how you get to 5 billion under that scenario.

你好呀。如果可以的話，關於指導的兩個問題。第一個與您對淨收入權益的 50 億美元預測有關。我想知道，你能幫我把它分解成不同的關聯線，因為只是 - 只是通過一些乾淨的數字來看它對我來說看起來很低。我的意思是，SEMC 去年做了 180 億。索尼 BMG 如果你剔除費用，它已經有 7% 的利潤，你已經在那裡承擔了 2.19 億美元的成本，三星 LCD 也在增加，每個人都對今年下半年的液晶電視市場非常樂觀，所以我真的很想知道在那種情況下你是如何達到 50 億的。

Okay, can I answer this question and, first, we had the one-time gain of the patent-related license over the InterTrust in the last year, and this year we do not have such a one-time gain from this company. And also MGM will start its operation and we anticipate the loss on the MGM operations. And also the S-LCD, that is newly started from, in this financial year for its production and we have anticipated loss because of set-up period. While, on the improvement side, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications will anticipate more sales and more profit in this fiscal year. And also the Sony BMG, although we continue to have restructuring, we will see the profit contribution from the joint venture in this year. So those are the total outlook of the equity affiliate companies.

好的，我可以回答這個問題嗎，首先，我們在去年獲得了 InterTrust 的專利相關許可的一次性收益，而今年我們沒有從該公司獲得這種一次性收益。米高梅也將開始運營，我們預計米高梅運營會出現虧損。還有 S-LCD，它是新開始的，在本財政年度進行生產，我們預計由於準備期而出現虧損。而在改善方面，索尼愛立信移動通信預計本財年將有更多的銷售額和更多的利潤。還有索尼BMG，雖然我們還在繼續重組，但今年我們會看到合資公司的利潤貢獻。這些就是股權關聯公司的總體前景。

Would it be fair to say that basically most of the restructuring and investment has been made this fiscal year and then going into the year afterwards we should start seeing the benefits in the associates line?

可以公平地說，基本上大部分重組和投資已經在本財政年度進行，然後進入下一年，我們應該開始看到聯營公司的收益嗎？

Which company is that?

那是哪家公司？

Well, Sony BMG, and Sony MGM and Sony -- and S-LCD, you're saying there's restructuring charges and there's investments so I'm just wondering what would profitability be on a clean basis going into the following year.

好吧，索尼 BMG、索尼米高梅和索尼——還有 S-LCD，你說有重組費用和投資，所以我只是想知道明年的盈利能力是多少。

Yes, it's easier and we could make profit on the clean basis-- for the Sony BMG.

是的，這更容易，我們可以在乾淨的基礎上為索尼 BMG 賺取利潤。

Right.

正確的。

Thank you very much for your question. With that I would like to go to another e-mail question. The question is, that if -- if Sony, Toshiba, and other members of the Blu-ray and HD- DVD camp agree on a common standard, what's the implication for your DVD replication and movie businesses? And will Blu-ray still feature in the PS3?

非常感謝你的問題。說到這裡，我想轉到另一個電子郵件問題。問題是，如果——如果索尼、東芝和藍光和 HD-DVD 陣營的其他成員就共同標準達成一致，這對你們的 DVD 複製和電影業務有何影響？藍光還會出現在 PS3 中嗎？

Yes, Sony always considers what is best from the customers’ viewpoint. So, therefore, we are continuing to talk with the HD-DVD Group over this issue. And so the general point on the Play Station 3, at this point in time, and I cannot comment on these specifications such as the use of the current Blu-ray or anything like that.

是的，索尼總是從客戶的角度考慮什麼是最好的。因此，我們將繼續與 HD-DVD Group 討論這個問題。所以關於 Play Station 3 的一般點，在這個時間點，我無法評論這些規格，例如當前藍光的使用或類似的東西。

Thank you very much, Mr. Yuhara. We'd also like to go to our next live question. Ashley, do we have another live question?

非常感謝，湯原先生。我們還想轉到下一個實時問題。 Ashley，我們還有其他現場問題嗎？

Not at this time, sir.

先生，現在不行。

Okay. So let's go to our next e-mail question. Our next e-mail question is about PS2 and PSP forecast for -- our next question is we with respect to next generation Play Station, can you discuss approximately -- approximate launch timing and if third party publishers have received development kits?

好的。那麼讓我們轉到下一個電子郵件問題。我們的下一個電子郵件問題是關於 PS2 和 PSP 的預測——我們的下一個問題是我們關於下一代 Play Station 的問題，你能討論一下——大概的發佈時間以及第三方發行商是否收到了開發工具包？

Well, at this point in time, unfortunately I do not comment on the launch time. But the Sony Computer Entertainment team is looking at the best timing for the product launch, considering the hardware and the number software and also the manufacturing platform is available for the mass production.

好吧，很遺憾，目前我不對發佈時間發表評論。但索尼電腦娛樂團隊正在尋找產品發布的最佳時機，考慮到硬件和數字軟件以及可用於大規模生產的製造平台。

Thank you very much, Mr. Yuhara. Next we have an e-mail question again. This question is about sales. Sales for this -- the current fiscal year FY '05. Your sales forecast for FY -- the financial year ending March 31, 2006, seems very aggressive plus 640 billion yen. If we make an apples to apples comparison, excluding music business sales, contributions for FY '04 your sales growth forecast is not plus 5 but rather plus 8. Why do you think this is achievable?

非常感謝，湯原先生。接下來我們又有一個電子郵件問題。這個問題是關於銷售的。銷售額——當前財政年度 FY '05。你對 FY 的銷售預測——截至 2006 年 3 月 31 日的財政年度，似乎非常激進，加上 6400 億日元。如果我們進行同類比較，排除音樂業務銷售額，您對 04 財年的銷售額增長預測不是加 5，而是加 8。您認為這是可以實現的原因是什麼？

First of all, the sales growth anticipated is around 4%. It is not 5%. The impact of BMG is not great in this forecast. In terms of sales, the driving force is the game business – we have the full year effect of the Play Station Portable. And in the Electronics business, flat panel TVs and microdevice rear projection TVs are expected to grow this year.

首先，預計銷售額增長在4%左右。不是5%。 BMG在本次預測中的影響並不大。在銷售方面，驅動力是遊戲業務——我們擁有 Play Station Portable 的全年效應。而在電子業務方面，平板電視和微型設備背投電視預計今年將實現增長。

Thank you very much Mr. Yuhara. Let's proceed to another e-mail question. Taking out the 60 billion of pension benefits in your 160 billion guidance, operating income will not grow this year, yet music, gaming, and financial services are all expected to be relatively flat while pictures margins fell a bit. Electronics seems to be the real culprit. What product categories in particular are causing problems and what can Sony do about this?

非常感謝湯原先生。讓我們繼續討論另一個電子郵件問題。除去你1600億指導中的600億養老金，今年的營業收入不會增長，但音樂、遊戲和金融服務預計都將相對持平，而電影利潤率則略有下降。電子產品似乎是真正的罪魁禍首。具體是哪些產品類別導致了問題？索尼可以對此做些什麼？

Yes, in the Electronics segment particularly, if you exclude the restructuring expenses in the fiscal year 2005, the operating profit level is almost the same level as fiscal year '04. And in fiscal year '04 (MEANT TO SAY 05) we have the positive effect of the restructuring initiatives to lower the fixed costs. We will also have sales growth, particularly in the display products, in fiscal year '05 which give us positive effect, but we have the yen appreciation and also the increase in expenses such as the depreciation charges and also R&D which would offset those positive effects, as I mentioned. If I look into the products category-wise, the TV business is increasing, particularly on the flat panel TVs. However, there is a risk that the sales increase will not directly lead to drastic profit improvement, so we are conservatively watching the business environment due to the severe competition among our competitors. Also, the video camcorders and also digital still cameras – their profitability will be deteriorating slightly caused by the yen appreciation anticipated in this year. As for the DVD recorders we are looking at the high end models which are the more added value and we are trying to make a product range rather than the current line up. The last is device and component – we are anticipating that outside sales doesn't move up for the first six months. In total, Electronics is almost the same level of profit before restructuring charges. And in the Pictures segment, although revenue is increasing we are anticipating the operating profit will decrease due to the lack of mega hits such as Spider-Man 2. And the Financial Services and Other segment will see a slight profit decrease compared to 04.

是的，特別是在電子部門，如果排除 2005 財年的重組費用，營業利潤水平幾乎與 04 財年持平。在 04 財年（也就是說 05 財年），我們對降低固定成本的重組舉措產生了積極影響。 05 財年我們的銷售額也將增長，尤其是顯示器產品，這會給我們帶來積極影響，但日元升值以及折舊費用和研發等費用的增加將抵消這些積極影響， 如我所說。如果我從產品類別來看，電視業務正在增長，尤其是平板電視。然而，銷售增長不會直接導致利潤大幅改善的風險，因此由於競爭對手之間的激烈競爭，我們正在保守地觀察商業環境。此外，攝像機和數碼相機——由於今年預計日元升值，它們的盈利能力將略有下降。至於 DVD 刻錄機，我們關注的是附加值更高的高端型號，我們正努力打造一個產品系列，而不是目前的產品線。最後是設備和組件——我們預計前六個月外部銷售額不會上升。總的來說，重組費用前電子的利潤水平幾乎相同。在電影部門，雖然收入在增加，但我們預計營業利潤將下降，因為沒有蜘蛛俠 2 等大片。與 04 相比，金融服務和其他部門的利潤將略有下降。

Thank you very much, Mr. Yuhara. With that, I would like to go over to a live call.

非常感謝，湯原先生。有了這個，我想轉到現場通話。

Your next question comes from the line of Mr. Matthew Troy from Smith Barney. Sir, your line is open. You may proceed.

你的下一個問題來自美邦的馬修特洛伊先生。先生，您的線路開通了。你可以繼續。

Good evening, thank you for taking my call. Two-part question. One, could you please talk about the growth rates in the digital camera segment by region in the current quarter as well as your outlook for the full year by market and secondly could you provide some detail about Sony's digital camera outlook opportunity and strategy in the emerging Chinese market? Thank you.

晚上好，謝謝你接聽我的電話。兩部分的問題。第一，您能否談談本季度各地區數碼相機市場的增長率以及您對全年市場的展望，其次，您能否詳細介紹一下索尼在新興市場的數碼相機展望機會和戰略？中國市場？謝謝你。

Yes. And as you know, the digital still camera market is showing the increase of the quantity in the worldwide market and so we anticipate that the digital camera sales will increase in all areas, but in Japan where we will stay the same level as this years and also, as for products, we have launched the fully compact camera called the T7 in Japan and this is a strategic model and we would like to widely launch this model to the rest of the market.

是的。如您所知，數碼相機市場在全球市場的數量正在增加，因此我們預計數碼相機的銷量在所有地區都會增長，但在日本，我們將保持與今年相同的水平，此外，在產品方面，我們已經在日本推出了名為 T7 的全緊湊型相機，這是一款戰略機型，我們希望將這款機型廣泛推向其他市場。

Thank you very much for your question. With that we have -- do we have another live call Ashley?

非常感謝你的問題。有了這個，我們還有另一個現場電話 Ashley 嗎？

Yes, sir. Hold one moment, please. Okay, sir. Your next question comes from the line of Edward Williams from Harris Nesbitt. Sir, your line is open. You may proceed with your question.

是的先生。請稍等。好的，先生。你的下一個問題來自 Harris Nesbitt 的 Edward Williams。先生，您的線路開通了。你可以繼續你的問題。

This is Tom Andrews standing in for Edward Williams today. Now, with respect to your Play Station 2 and Play Station Portable shipment forecast for the current fiscal year, could we get a geographic breakdown?

這是湯姆安德魯斯今天代表愛德華威廉姆斯。現在，關於您當前財政年度的 Play Station 2 和 Play Station Portable 出貨量預測，我們可以得到地理細分嗎？

Well, first, I'd like to tell you about the current forecast: 12 million for PS2 and also 12 million for the Play Station Portable as well. But I cannot disclose the quantity on a geographic basis, but as you know the U.S. and Europe will be a big market. Thank you.

嗯，首先，我想告訴你目前的預測：PS2 為 1200 萬，Play Station Portable 也為 1200 萬。但我不能透露地理上的數量，但正如你所知，美國和歐洲將是一個大市場。謝謝你。

Okay.

好的。

Thank you very much for your question. Do we have any other live questions Ashley?

非常感謝你的問題。我們還有其他實時問題 Ashley 嗎？

No, sir, not at this time.

不，先生，現在不行。

If that is so, then I would like to conclude today's call. Thank you very much for joining us today. Thank you, Mr. Yuhara and Mr. Wiesenthal for joining us as well today. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of our investor relations contact information. In Tokyo investor relations can be reached at 813-5448-2180. New York investor relations can be reached at 212-813-6722. London investor relations can be reached at 44-207-449713. Again, thank you very much for joining us. That concludes today's call. Thank you very much.

如果是這樣，那麼我想結束今天的電話會議。非常感謝您今天加入我們。感謝 Yuhara 先生和 Wiesenthal 先生今天也加入我們。我想藉此機會提醒大家注意我們的投資者關係聯繫方式。在東京，可以撥打 813-5448-2180 聯繫投資者關係。可撥打 212-813-6722 聯繫紐約投資者關係部。可撥打 44-207-449713 聯繫倫敦投資者關係部。再次，非常感謝您加入我們。今天的電話會議到此結束。非常感謝你。

This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

這確實結束了今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。